Jurors convict Oklahoma City teen of killing baby sister

A jury convicted a 14-year-old boy Thursday of killing his baby sister, rejecting claims she was fatally injured in a fall and favoring arguments he shook her because she interrupted his violent video game.

Crystian Rivera The teen convicted in the death of his baby sister is shown during a hearing in February.

The panel deliberated less than two hours before convicting Crystian Rivera of first-degree murder in the death of 9-month-old Linda Beletzuy.

The parents are accused of neglect and prosecutors say they share in the responsibility for the death.

She died Aug. 19, three days after she was hospitalized. Her injuries included a fractured skull, swelling of the brain and bleeding around the brain.

“I think we were all quick to agree that it was abuse and not an accident,” said juror Erika Hernet, of Choctaw.

Defense attorneys argued during the nearly two-week trial that the death was a tragic accident and the girl was injured when she fell off a bed in the family's Oklahoma City apartment and landed on her head.

“He couldn't prove it was the bed,” said Hernet, the mother of two young children. “That argument didn't seem reasonable.”

The boy bowed his head but showed little emotion when the verdict was read in the courtroom of Associate District Judge Richard W. Kirby.

“It's hard for him to conceptualize, at 14, everything that's happened,” said Cesar Armenta, one of Rivera's attorneys.

Jurors, including Hernet and Penny Matapene, said they cried while deciding Rivera's fate and felt sympathy for the defendant and his family.

“It was hard,” Matapene said.

The judge set a Nov. 30 court date to adopt a treatment plan for the boy, who was prosecuted as a youthful offender and will avoid prison if he complies with a program administered by the office of juvenile affairs.

Rivera could be released within 12 months if he completes treatment, prosecutors said. But if he fails to complete his treatment plan or commits another crime he can be sent to prison for life.

“Basically, he's being given the chance to rehabilitate,” Assistant District Attorney SuAnne Carlson said.

Rivera, then 13, was playing the game “Call of Duty: Black Ops,” authorities said. The warfare-based game is rated for players 17 and older.

During a police interview played for jurors, Rivera admitted shaking the girl after she hit her head on a bed railing and began to cry. He told a detective he shook the girl to calm her down and then set her on the floor.

“We had other evidence that corroborated that he picked her up and swung her and caused her head to hit a hard object,” Carlson said.

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by Tim Willert

Education Reporter

Tim Willert is a native Californian with Oklahoma ties who covers education. Prior to moving to Oklahoma in June 2011, he was as an editor for FOXSports.com in Century City, Calif., and reported on courts for the Los Angeles Daily Journal and...